The Golden Drops Quality Improvement Project

The "Golden Drops" project was initiated at the Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health (SCRH) in Edinburgh with the aim of improving the early provision of mother's own milk to preterm infants.

The project was a quality improvement (QI) initiative, driven by the need to improve neonatal outcomes and achieve the goal of early maternal breast milk receipt within 24 hours.

The success story of The Golden Drops Project

The authors of the "Golden Drops: An early expressing initiative to improve first-day provision of mother’s own milk to preterm babies" project were: Gardiner G RM, McCormick J N RM, Freer Y RGN RM RSCN BSc Midwifery, PhD, Becher JC FRCPCH MD MBChB

The project focused on increasing staff consistency in delivering information to mothers, raising staff awareness of the benefits of early breast milk, improving the ease of lactation through the use of "Golden Basins," and enhancing staff awareness of barriers and enablers in different work areas.

The project was initiated by forming a multidisciplinary working group involving staff from the Neonatal Unit, Labour Ward, and Postnatal Wards. The group developed action plans and a driver diagram to guide their improvement efforts.

Activities to create momentum and engagement included:

Branding the project as "Golden Drops,"
Providing staff feedback through monthly audit figures, organizing face-to-face tutorials with staff
Developing educational materials such as posters and laminated staff cards with tips for successful early expression.

The project emphasized the importance of multidisciplinary team involvement, collaboration, and shared goals to support early lactation and improve neonatal outcomes.

QI techniques such as setting goals, using driver diagrams, process mapping, Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles, and seeking parent experience were employed during the project.

The project's outcomes showed a sustained improvement in the proportion of preterm babies receiving mother's own milk within 24 hours, reaching a median of 100% since April 2019.

The project highlighted the significance of high-quality communication, collaboration, and visible measurement of improvement for successful QI work.

Three points of advice for others embarking on QI work in their units include:

Working collaboratively.
Ensuring high-quality communication.
Measuring and making improvements visible.

Free Resources

In 2022, following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Golden Drops working group made the strategic decision to relaunch their quality improvement (QI) efforts. As a pediatric trainee, I joined the team and assumed the responsibility of redeveloping existing resources and designing new materials to effectively disseminate the project's core message.

We are pleased to announce that all the valuable resources associated with the relaunch of Golden Drops are now available for complimentary download. These resources are conveniently provided in PDF format, along with CANVA templates, thereby enabling neonatal units worldwide to readily access and utilize them. We invite you to take advantage of this opportunity and acquire these valuable materials for your own use.